Sri Lanka won’t relent on 13A amendment: Basil Rajapaksa

Colombo: Overruling India`s concerns, Sri Lanka may go ahead with its proposed plans to amend the 13th amendment ahead of the provincial polls in Tamil-dominated northern areas in September, a top minister has hinted. Basil Rajapaksa, the younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Economic Development Minister, who returned here from New Delhi after talks with Indian leaders, was non-committal about any conditions that New Delhi might have pushed for.

"When we bring in a Bill we wouldn`t normally retract. We will go back only if the people wanted us to go back. There are examples when we have done so on people`s will", he told reporters when asked about India`s concerns. However, Basil strictly refused to say whether the Indian Government insists on Sri Lanka consulting it before changing the 13th Amendment. He maintained, instead, that some things must necessarily remain secret - as they would be between "husband and wife", the Sunday Times reported. As per the 13th amendment that followed the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987, Sri Lankan government had agreed to devolve some authority to the provinces. India has emphasised to Sri Lanka the need to fully implement the constitutional provision dealing with devolution of powers to provinces without dilution and to go beyond it to ensure meaningful development there to Rajapaksa. During a meeting on Thursday in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid conveyed India`s concerns on the 13th amendment and urged Basil not to do anything to dilute its provisions. However, Sri Lanka has made it clear that they want to dilute the police and land powers for the nine provincial councils. The move comes ahead of the September`s northern provincial council polls where the main Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), stands a good chance of victory. PTI